Younger Chinese Get Feel for Debt

By

Laurie Burkitt

Oct. 11, 2012 7:48 p.m. ET

TIANJIN, China—College student Liu Qikun recently went into debt to buy a $280 cellphone—and that is potentially good news for the unbalanced Chinese economy.

Ms. Liu, 22 years old, took out a loan in an electronics store from a kiosk run by Home Credit BV, a consumer-lending unit of Amsterdam-based investment company PPF Group NV. She agreed to pay monthly installments that would make her new hot-pink Lenovo A520 smartphone cost 23% more than the 1,782 yuan purchase price. But she figures she will pay off the loan quickly...